E 63/ 

IVou. 4 0«c. I^«</ 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



013 744 438 



REPORT 

Copy 1 

OF THE 



NORTPESTERi SITAR! COMMISSIOM, 



BRANCH OF THE 



it. %, ^jinitarjj d^flutmission. 



FOR THE MONTHS OF 



NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER, 1864. 



HEADQUARTERS NORTHWESTERN SANITARY GOMffllSSlON, CHICAGO. 

Rooms— No. 66 Madison Street, 



C H I C A. & O : 

DuNi-OP, Sewell & Spalding, Pihntees axr Statioxkks. 

1865. 



\ 






MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION. 



E. B. McCxVGG, President. 

WM. W. PATTON, D. D., Vice PnEsmExr. 

H. E. SEELYE, Recording Secretary. 

CYRUS BENTLEY, Correspondixg Secretary. 

E. W. BLATCHFORD, Treasurer. 

B. W. RAYMOND. 

J. K. BOTSFORD. 

WESLEY MUNGER. 



ASSOCIATE MANAGERS, 

^riis. A. IT. HOGE, \ 

.' Chicago. 
Mrs. D. P. LIVERMORE,) 

Mrs. J. S. COLT, Milwaukee, Wis. 



Rev. S. day, Commissioner for obtaininp; sanitary sup- 
plies in Michigan. 



Rev. E. S. NORRTS, General Aoent U. S. Sanitary Com- 
mission for Iowa. 



FOB 

NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER, 1864. 



The number ol' puckages received during tlie lust two months is 3,^02. 
The number shipped is 8,202, 4840 of "which were purchased supplies. 
The Commission has received !^12,1G1.15 in money dmnng the last two 
months, and has expended $18,722.83, $4,398.80 of which has been de- 
voted to the purchase of supplies and their transportation. The items of 
the receipts and shipments will be found at the close of this report. 



omi PRESENT NEEDS. 

The weather forbids shii,)ments of vegetables at present, but it will be 
resumed eaily in the spring. Our greatest need, at the present time, is 
tlannel shirts and drawers, and woolen socks. We cannot have too great 
a supply. The call for them is most agonizing, and ^from all directions. 
We greatly desire that all the Aid Societies shall turn their attention to 
this wcrk, with as much energy and enthusiasm as possible. 

We call attention to a few valuable facts in regard to the maiuur of 
putting up certain vegetables, which may be brought into practical use 
before our next Eeport is issued. Horseradish should be put in glass 
jars and be her uicf 'full ji seahih Sent in kegs, as it often is, it becomes 
nearly worthless. No onions should be sent in the spring in their nat- 
ural state. By the tinie they reach the warmer climate, where they are 
to be used, they sprout and become soft. They should be peeled, and if 
large, cut once or twice, and packed close iu good tight kegs or barrels, 
with salt and spices, and the vessel filled with good vinegar and headed 
up, when they are sure to get to the boys in good order. PlcJded cahha'je 
is C(jual to kraut, as an anti-scorbutic, and is better relished by Ameri- 
can soldiers. It should be packed in tight kegs. 

We urge Aid Societies to make arrangements to ship their vegetables 
just as earljr in the spring as the weather will permit. The gi'eat call of 
tlie army is for vegeta1)les and clothing. 



Nuinorou.s articles will have to be purchased with cash, and it is confi- 
dently expected that the Northwest will do her full share in this great 
work. We would not have the Government tike this blessed work from 
our hands, if it could. ,,We want this channel of intercourse kept open 
between the people and the brave defenders of our constitution and gov- 
ernment. We want it as a means of keeping up our interest in them, 
and as a means of testifying that interest to them. They want it and 
should have it, to strengthen them for the conflict, danger, privation, suf- 
fering and death, with which they are so valiantly struggling. Give us 
more ra,ther than less to do, for these our heroic, self-sacrificing brothers 
and sons, who are battling so noblj^ for us and our liberties. 



EXTRACT FROM THE REPORT OF RKV. E. L. NORRIS, GEN'L 

AG'T OF THE SANITARY COMMISSION FOR 

THE STATE OF IOWA. 

About the first of December, and during the concentration of General 
Thomas' army at Nashville, Rev. Mr. Norris, our indtfatigable agent for 
Iowa, paid a visit to Nashville and Louisville. We give below a portion 
of his report made on his return. He was particularly impressed with 
the beneficence of the Hospital Dirbctory of the Sanitary Commission, 
located at Louisville, whi(5!rhe describes j>^ follows : 

T1]E HOSPITAL nniECTOSV. 

The work performed at the office of the Hospital Directory was a mat- 
ter of great interest to me, and I lingered in it with a sad and melan- 
choly pleasure. Persons w'ere almost constantly coming and going; and 
I could but notice the changes of feeling that would involuntarily mani- 
fest themselves on the part of the anxious inquirers. Here was a father 
w'ho had come from northern Indiana, hoping to liud his onlj^ boy in hos- 
pital in Louisville, and take him home, where he could have a mother's 
care. But he is not here. For a moment his sturdy frame shakes as 
with convulsions, and the big tears chase each other rapidly downh's fur- 
rowed cheeks, as the agent communicates this sad intelligence. Thecon- 
fiict is brief, for in another moment the Directory is consulted, and it is 
announced that his bo^^ is in hospital in Nashville, slightly wounded and 
doing well. The tears still fall, but they tell of joy rather than grief, and 
as he parses tow^ards the door I hear him, with trembling voice, utter the 
ejaculation, "Thank God ! " Next comes a lady, with'palc sad counte- 
nance, to inquire for her husband. She knew that he had been wounded, 
perhaps fatally, at the battle of Franklin, and she had hastened, hoping 
at least, to reach him before he d"ed. Oh ! the silent, tearless despair that 
pictured itself upon the face of that frail, gi'ief-stricken, widowed one, as 



the terrible truth pierced her soul. She was too late, lie was dead and 
in his grave. The struggle was l)rief but severe. A few minutes, and 
she had gained the victory. Rising to leave the office, with a heroism 
worthy the heroic ages, she said, " 1 consented that he should goto serve 
his country — I would do the same again." 

Tens of thousands of inquiries, by letter and personal application, are 
made by friends for their loved ones in the army ; to most of which sat- 
isfactory ansv/ers are given. There are over 550,000 names on the books 
of the office. Separate books arc kept for each State and each regiment; 
and every removal from one hospital to anolher, olM;hange in the condi- 
tion of each patient in all the hospitals in the country, is immediately 
communicated and entered upon the books? The labor in\H)lved is im- 
mense; but no person who spends an hour in the office will (juestion its 
benevolence or propriety. 

The Pension and Back Pay Office is another inter .'sting feature of the 
Commission at Louisv.ille ; and its business is conducted with enei'gy and 
fidefity. An immen>e amount of back pay is collected, and a vast num- 
ber of pensions are obtained for those wliose friends have fallen in the 
service; and its whole w( vk is gnituifous. 

Sl'ECIAL i'itlVU.KGlS GHANTLD^'O TUiO SASIIWllV COMMISSION. 

Wli'le at Louisville, 1 had a striking ikustration of the superior facili 
ties afforded by our commanding General-! to the Sanitary Commission, 
for carrying on its benevolent operation-;. -An orderhad just been issued 
l)y General Thomas, prohibiting all civilians from going below Louisville. 
The prospect for my getting to the front was rather dubious ; but in- 
structions inunediatc'ly followed, directing the commanding officer at 
Louisville, to pass and supply transportation to all agents of the United 
States Sanitary Commission, fur whom Dr. Newberry might make appli- 
cation. Thus, while I saw otiicrs excluded, f, as an agent of the Sanitary 
Commission, was welcome. 

SUKGEOX WOUHW OUTlTs OMINKJN, 

Dr. WoodwcrtI), of the U.S. Army, in charge of the hospital train 
from Louisville, kindly invited me to a seat in the train, the cars of 
which are unoccupied on the way to the front. This was a great favor, 
as the other train was crowded with soldiers, al.so hastening to the 
front. The Surgeon has been engaged in similar service during most of 
the past summer and fall, and I am sure that a man better suited to that 
severe and trying service, could hardly have been selected. I took occa- 
.sion to inquire of him if the Sanitary Commission rendered him any>id 
in his work. His reply was very emphatic. Said he, " dining the last 
season I have brought back from the front over 21,000 patients, mostly 



wounded, and could not have made them at all comfortable hut for the 
help rendered me by the Commission. Their agents seem to be always 
present, and present with what is most needed. The Surj^eon was 
equally explicit in expressing his disapprobation of all State and loc;d 
organizations, only as th\y were auxiliaiy to the one great National 
organization. 

A little circumstance occurred on tlie way down, showing what the boys 
who come in contact with the Connnission think of it. The men run- 
ning the hospital train, all board on the train. After their supper was 
over, the Steward learned that 1 was on board, and came the whole 
length of ths train to the rear car, to invite me to go and get my supper. 
"We are too much indebted to the Sanitary Commission," said he, " not 
to take o'ood care of its acrents whenever we can sict a chaiic." 



mSliUltSli.MENTS OF VEGKTA lj;.K; 



;K\. TlKiM.VS AH.MV. 



When I reached Nashville, but little was doing in the way of distribu- 
tion of supplies, except to the hospita's. The lines of communication 
to all points below had been severed. The field agents and the arm}^ 
had concentrated, and were preparing for the great conflict in front of 
Nashville. Just before my arrival, General Thomas had rec]Ucsted the 
agent of the Commission at Nashville, Judge Root, if in his power, to 
supply his army in the field with a given number of rations of vegeta- 
bles, as they had had comparatively few for a long time. Tn response to 
this request the Commission issued from l)eceml>er '2nd to December 
Gth inclusive, to G3,800 of General Thomas' )iien, as follows : 



CO 10 


~ 2 


777 


757 


329 


329 


120 


120 


30 


30 


421 


413 


84 


63 


151 


155 


59 


55 


36 


35 


38 


37 


2045 


1994 



5B,S 



To the 4th Army Corps . 

" 10th •' " . 

" 17tli " " . 

" 20th " •' . 

" 23d '' " . 

Provisional Division 

Cavalry 

Artillery 

Miscellaneous 

Colored Brigade 



2861' 
1542; 
462' 
126' 
1366' 
243' 
524' 
228; 
143' 
168' 



Total 2045 1994 7663! 

Thirteen car loads more were sent to out-points for like distribution, 
besides what was sent to the hospitals. All this was only theVork of 
live days. The number of men in each Division was furnished tlie 



Commission, and the vegetables receipted for by the Division Comman- 
ders. The distribution ^vas in the ratio of three barrels of vcf^etables to 
every hundred men, nnd a"barrel of kraut to]every regiment. 

now 1 ITTl.K THE liOVS K\KW AliOtT rf. 

In passing along the lines for some four or five miles just after this 
vast distribution, I took frequent occasion to in^juirc of the l)oys if they 
had received anything recently from the Sanitary Conuuission. I sup- 
pose I made this inquiry in more than a dozen different places. The 
universal reply was, " we have not." I inquired of them if they had not 
been having rations of vegetables during the past week. "Yes," they 
invariably i-eplied, " but they -wei-e furnished by the Commissary^ 
When I explained to them how the Commissary came by them, and that 
nearly the wliolo army had been supplied, they were quite surprised. 
Two thousand Ixarrcis of vegetables had then been distributed in five 
days, and though the boys were enjoying the hixmy hugely, not one in 
a thousand of them, probably ever dreamed that they wore indeV)ti-d fcr 
them to the Sanitary Commission. 

Numerous incidents were given mc illustrating the fact that the 
boys, either in the field or hospital, know but very little of their in- 
debtedness to the Commission. I give Init a single instance, related by 
Mr. Tone, one of the laborious field agents of the Commission. Mr. 
Tone said that he visited a hospital, (I think at Murfreesboro), a few days 
after having sent there a load of supplies, consisting of condensed milk, 
potatoes, onions and kraut. He inc[uired of the boys how they were 
pleased with the Sanitary supplies that he had sent them. They uni- 
tedly denied having received any. He told them that on such a day he 
had sent them a four mule wagon load. They still declared that^they 
liad not received any, and that if any had come there, the steward and 
nurses had used them. Mr. Tone questioned them in regard to their 
diet; inquired if they had used any milk lately; "yes, they had it in 
their ccffee every da3^" Tf they had onions or kraut; " yes, they had 
both, and they were Up-top.'''' Tliese were the four articles that Mr. 
Tone had sent them, but it had never entered tlieir thoughts that they 
came from the Sanitarj'' Commission. 

In the month of November, ]\Ir. Tone and Mr. Brundagc had distril)- 
uted at Stevenson, Pulaski, Johnsonville and Duck River, 19,081 gallons 
of kraut, 3,520 bushels of onions, and large (|uan titles of potatoes, 
])icklcs, etc. 

H.U'TLE FIELD StPPLIES AT NASIIVILLK. 

Large ciuantities of battle field supplies had been accumulating at 
Nashville, in anticipation of heavy demands in that vicinity. The field 



agents were on Imnd anxiously awaiting the movement of Gen. Thomas, 
which was to open the blootly drama in fi'ont of Nashville, when with 
their corps of assistants, they would for the hundredth time renew their 
work of mercy, amid the terrible scenes of slaughter and blood, and I 
have no doubt that relief was carried to many hundreds on that battle 
field. When I left, three days before the battle, clothing, such as would 
be I'equired by the wounded, had been distributed largely among the 
sui'geonsin charge of the division field hospitals, so that there might be 
no delay when the emergency should occur. 

WASTE AND MlSAI'Pl ICATTON 01' SUriM.II^S. 

T tool-: particular pains to inquire if any considerable amount of vege- 
t ibles had bx-ome spoiled before distribution, and learned that a few that 
were shipped late last summer, were unfit for use when they reached the 
field; 111' qumlit}' was very trifling, and as to waste, ir misapplication 
of supplies, 1 am sitisfied that there is as little as can bj under tlie cir- 
cumstances. 'Die general clinrgc that the officers, surgeons and nurses 
get the sanitary stores, is a gross wrong d)ne to these noble, self-sacrifi- 
cing men. Th3rc are bad men in the arnij', and among surgeons, it is 
admitted, and there will be cases of misapplication of supplies, but these 
ar.i tha exceptions, and not the rule. Tlie men and officers in the army 
will compare favorably, as to ]ion<tr or feelings of Immmity, with those 
that have remained at home. 

Dr. Heed, the able Medical Inspector of the Commission at Nashville, 
told me of an Ohio surgeon who cune to him not long since, literally rot- 
ten with scui'vy, his skin as spotted as an adder, with great loathsome 
sorjs all over him. " Why," said Dr. Heed to him, " we have sent you 
hospital vegetables; ho-\v cxme yon in tliis condition V " " True," said 
the surgeon, " Vmt tlicy were for the boys ; " and so conscientious had 
he been that he had not tasted them, though needing them more than 
any man und^r his care. You may cjII this excessive conscientiousness, 
if you please; but I venture you will find such cases as fre(|uently as 
you wi'l those of improp-r use of sanitny supplies on the part of 
surg?ons. 

IIELIEF TO -niE SICK .VM) WOUNDED OX mVAV. WAV NOUTII. 

Th'3 prospect for immediate battles liad rendered it necessary to make 
large preparations for the wounded. All the old patients, therefore, 
that could bear to be removed from the Hospital at Nashville, were sent 
North. Surgeon Carpenter, in charge of such service, told me that 
during the previous week the number thus sent averaged from five to 
six hundred a day, and he remarked that it would have been hardly pos- 



sible for him to have made tliem comfortable if he had not been permitted 
to draw on the Sanitary Commission for supplies. 

During the Atlanta campaign, commencing with the 6th of May last, 
Mr. Brundage, who was employed in that work as field agent, informed 
me that there were over 70,000 sick and wounded passed through the 
hospitals on their way to the North, and that there was not a day that 
they were not suppHed with sanitary stores by the Commission, while 
lists of deaths and sick and wounded, were made out and published by 
the agents, who fared all the time, precisely as did the soldiers. 

WHAT GEN. SHERMAN AND GEN. THOMAS THINK: OF THE SAN. COM. 

Gen'l Thomas' estimate of the Sanitary Commission was manifested 
by a very brief remark made by him a few days since, when passing its 
office. Noticing its sign, as he was passing by, he remarked to the gen- 
tleman with him, " I have no language to express the obligation of the 
army and country to that noble institution." Gen'l Sherman's estimate 
of it is seen in the request that one of its well-tried agents, who had for- 
merly been attached to his old corps, (the 15th), might be sent round to 
meet him with supplies, for the sick and wounded, when on his grand 
campaign Savannah-ward, he should reach the coast. This request 
was of course granted, and with the mail for Sherman's army, went the 
sanitary agents and supplies. 



REFUTATION OF A FALSE STATEMENT CONCERNING THE 
FINANCIAL AFFAIRS OF THE WESTERN DEPART- 
MENT OF THE U. S. SANITARY COMMISSION. 

A statement has been circulated in the North-West, purporting to be 
based upon the financial report of the Secretary of the Western Depart- 
ment of the United States Sanitary Commi'ssion, to the effect that it has 
cost the Commission some $200,000 to get about $93,000 of supplies to 
the army, so entirely void of foundation, that this branch of the Com- 
mission deems it appropriate to depart from its usual course of leaving 
such charges to time, and the manifest results of the work of the Com- 
mission, for their refutation, and to notice it authoritatively. The report 
of the Secretary of the Western Department, for the period of time be- 
tween the first day of September, A. D. 1861, and the first day of July, 
A. D. 1864, nearly three years, contains a summary of all the expenses 
and disbursements of his department for that period, including a dis- 
bursement of $93,000, for supplies 2}urchased hy him ; and his report also 
contains, immediately following such general summary, and a part of it 
on the same page with such general summary, a detailed account of all 
the supplies distributed by him during that time, amounting in value to 

2 



$•2,790,811.01. This summary has boon extracted from the report, no 
mention being macle of there being any more of the report than the part 
thus extracted, and then, as before stated, based upon these figures, 
which, so far as given, are his own, the deduction is made that it has cost 
all the money expended in his department to distribute $93,000 worth of 
supplies to the army. 

Any person, having the report itself before him, will see at once how 
incorrect such deduction is. But as the summary, without the balance of 
the report, may, indeed in some cases has, misled, this branch of the 
Commission will, as succinctly as it can, explain it somewhat in detail, 
finding in it a triumphant vindication of the Commission's work. 

Witli great care the Secretary has divided it into different accounts, 
that the reader might see at a glance what each branch of the work of 
tlie Connnission has cost for the period of time covered by the report, to 
wit: from September 1, 1861, to July ], 18G4. It is necessary to be 
borne in mind all the time, that the mere distribution of supplies, is not 
the whole work of the Commission, but that its power for good has been 
exerted in manifold directions. 

srPPLY DEPATlTMEXT. 

This department covers all the expenditures fur the purchase, trans- 
portation and disbursement of sui^plies, the sum total of expenditures for 

these items being, according to the summary .$190,924.42 

deducting therefrom amount paid for supplies purchased 93,592.50 



and there remains $97,331.8fi 

as the expense account of the Supply Department, that being the 
amount paid for the transportation and distribution of stores valued at 
$2,790,811.01. The calculation is easy to be made; the cost of trans- 
portation and distribution has been a fraction over three per cent, of the 
value. The fact thus appears, that all the contributions made by the 
Western States to the Sanitary Commission to July 1, 1864, have been 
distributed at a cost of but a fraction over three per cent, on their value. 

RELIEF DEPARTMEN'T. 

One purpose of this department has been to lessen the hardships to 
which sick volunteers, men detached from their regiments, and soldiers 
without means, are from time to time temporarily subjected. And this 
is mainly the branch of this department referred to in the Western Sec- 
retary's report. Its whole purpose and end is vastly more important and 
extended. Of Soldiers' Homes for this purpose, scattered over the whole 
field of war, the Commission siipports, or helps support, some twenty- 
five or more, generally managing the Home, and supplementing the Gov- 
ernment in furnisliing it supplies. Eight or more of these Homes are 



11 

williiu the ilepartiueiit of the Wostfru Sccrctury, and up to Ihu lirdt of 
September, 18G0, there had been admitted into six of the principal ones 
of the West, 107,090 soldiers. The Home at Cincinnati had furnished 
food, rest and other needed assistance to 42,673 ; that at Cleveland to 
11,704; that at Cairo to 51,170; that at Louisville to 50,325; that at 
Nashville, during five months, to 2,542 ; and the Lodge at Memphis, du- 
ring two months, to 3,007 soldiers, not otherwise provided for. This 
work has steadily increased since that date. We have no later detailed 
reports, except from the Lodge at Cairo, with which this Commission has 
a more intimate connection. At this Lodge, for the last three months of 
the year 1863, 15,507 soldiers were lodged, and 57,582 meals given ; and 
for the first eleven months of the present year, 8J), 71 7 men have been 
admitted, 00,374 nights' rest have been furnished, 191,717 meals given. 
These Homes and Lodges are managed with all the system and regular- 
ity of a well-ordered business house, and many times stand between the 
soldier and absolute want. 

In the same department the Secretary has included the expense of hos- 
pital cars and boats, furnished by the Commission for the transportation 
of sick and wounded men. The whole expense placed to the debit of this 
department for two years and ten months, is $52,447.18. It will be seen 
from this statement that over 150,000 men have been admitted at Cairo 
alone, and furnished on an average more than two meals each, and that 
nearly 70,000 have been lodged at that Home within the fourteen months. 
It is probably safe to estimate tliat, including the number transported in 
hospital cars and boats, during the time covered by the Secretary's re- 
port, nearly 600,000 men have been aided by this department in the 
West. On this estimate, the cost, including construction and furnishing 
of the Honie.s, the employment of ho.5pital steamboats, and every other 
expense, has been to the commission less than nine cents a man. Any 
f^xther, mother, brother or sister, to whose wounded or sick son or brother 
a comfortable night's rest, and one or moi'c meals has been furnished at 
one of these Homes, will probably think the cost not extreme; certainly 
not if to this has been added his transportation on a bed, in a hospital 
pi'epared expressly for the purpose, and every possible attention to his 
comfort, from the field of battle, or the hastily improvised field hospital, 
to the (juiet arrangement and systematic management of the General Hos- 
pital. 

THE UOSl'lT.VI. JHREl'TOltV. 

The special bureau of hospital records was established daring the au- 
tumn of 1802, and is designed to furnish recent and accurate information 
concerning every patient in the military hospitals. It is a complete direc- 
tory or bureau of hiformation, daily revised, and wholly in the interest 
of military patients and their friends. 



12 

The following is an abstract of the latest detailed report of this work, 
which this branch of the Commission has on hand : 

" The number of names recorded in the books of the Hospital Direc- 
tory from June 9th to October 1st, 1863, have been as follows : 

At the Washington office 64,535 

At the New York office 1 8,771 

At the Philadelphia office .12,213 

At the Louisville office, from May 9th 96,433" 

As early then as October, 1863 — a year ago — the "Western Secretary at 
Louisville was able to answer all questions as to the ^'hereabouts, condi- 
tion and welfare of 96,433 sick and wounded soldiers; to tell in what 
hospital each one was, and to at once ascertain and report in answer to 
any written, telegraphic or oral application for information, the precise 
information required. This work has gone steadily on. More than one 
million and thirty thousand (1,030,000) names are now registered at 
Washington and Louisville. The whole cost to the Commission, of this 
service in the Western Department, to collect these names, an-ange them 
in proper form so that they can be readily referred to, make the daily 
necessary changes, reply to apphcations for information, and for all the 
vast amount of care and labor bestowed upon this Directory, has been 
$15,675.53. 

The Superintendent of the Directory at Louisville writes : 
" Hardly a day passes when the expense of a useless journey is not 
saved to some inquirer, who learns from oar records that the one sought 
for is not where he is expected to be found, but is either dead, returned 
to duty, or transferred to some other hospital nearer home, as it often 
happens, and near which the inquirer has passed on his journey thither. 
Not unfrequently the amount saved to the friends of the soldier has ex- 
ceeded a hundred dollars a day, by means of the information and aid 
given at this office." 

And Mr. Bowne, (then) Chief of the Directory Bureau, closes his re- 
port for 1863, with the following reference to the work of the Directory 
officers : 

" The benefit conferred by the Directory has not been merely to friends 
of the soldier, but also' to the soldier himself, becoming, as it has, a 
medium of communication for wives and mothers searching for husbands 
and sons — a channel through which has flowed those messages of love, 
and cheer, and hope, grateful to the fevered brain, soothing to the ag- 
ony of wounds. 

" In the nine thousand two hundred and three aaswers lies hidden a 
history which no human eye shall ever read. And the gratitude with 
which they are acknowledged is shown by the letters on file. Mothers 
write of their ' undying gratitude,' for the simple announcement that 



13 

their boys are doing well in hospital ; others ' invoke the blessing of God 
upon the labors of the Commission,' and sisters ' will cherish the warm- 
est gratitude while memory lasts.' And then the eagerness with which 
inquiries are made : ' By the love you bear your own mother, tell me 
where my boy is ! ' ' Only 'give me some tidings!' 'Is he dead, and 
how did he die ? ' ' Is he alive, and how can I get to him ? ' 'I pray 
you tell me of these two nephews I am seeking for. I have had four- 
teen nephews in the service, and these two are the only ones left.' " 

GENERAL INSPECTION. 

The first labor of the Commission was for the hygienic welfare of our 
hastily organized army; and as early as July 9th, A. D. 1861, the Sec- 
retary made an extended report discussing encampments, drainage, ma- 
laria, water, tents, personal cleanliness, latrines and camp police. 

" Consider the prospect," says Dr. Bellows, "of 250,000 troops, chiefly 
volunteers, farmers, clerks, students, mechanics, lawyers, doctors, accus- 
tomed for the most part to regularity of life, to varied and well prepared 
food, commodious homes, moderate toil, and to careful medical supervis- 
ion of all their ailments, suddenly precipitated by unexpected events 
into the field of war, living in crowded barracks and tents, sleeping on 
the bare ground, broken of rest, compelled to bear arms six and eight 
hours a day, and to make rapid marches, wearing thick uniforms, and 
carrying heavy knapsacks on their backs, and what can be looked for, 
but hundreds prostrated with relaxing disorders, and finally thousands 
swept off by camp diseases, the result of irregularity of life, exposure, 
filth, heat, and inability to take care of themselves under such novel 
conditions." 

The army of the Potomac, in its movements upon Manassas, and back to . 
the Potomac and the Peninsula, left nearly per cent, of its forces in the 
general hospitals about Washington. Many more, or nearly ten per 
cent, of the soldiers that advanced upon Yorktown and Williamsburgh, 
had succumbed to disease and exhaustion before the beginning of June ; 
and in the month of May, 1802, the constant »iclness-rate of the Federal 
army had reached about one-seventh the total force, the permanent and 
regimental hospitals together containing more than 100,000 sick and 
wounded ; and the ratio of this sickness-rate was rapidly increasing in 
the army of the Potomac, having been more than doubled in two months. 
To make careful inspection of, and discover all conditions of camp or 
hospital life unfavorable to the health of the soldier ; to teach both the 
men and their officers how to protect themselves, as far as possible, 
against such results , to urge and force upon their attention the laws of 
health ; to warn them of the danger run, and that even during a period of 
actual, active war, more men die from disease than from casualties ; to 



,14 ■ 

sug{i;est and seuuro .such sanitary reforms as would guard against sick- 
ness and death, the Commission organized and kept in the field a corps 
of intelligent,^consc!entious physicans, to aid and^^assist the army svir- 
geons, in some cases to instruct!]^them. The fact has been, we might 
almost say'the result has been, that the rate of percentage of mortality 
in the^army during the rebellion has been very much less than that of 
our forces during the Mexican war, or of any European army of modern 
times of which we liave published records. 

The annual death rate of the United States military forces in time of 
peace, has been 26 per 1,000. During the war with Mexico, the average 
annual death-rate of our forces from disease and accidents, was 104 per 
1,000. During'active operations in the Spanish peninsula in the years 
1811-14, the annual[rate experienced by the British forces from disease, 
was 113 per 1,000, andfin^the campaign of the allies against Russia in 
1854-56, the rate experienced in hospital alone by the British forces, was 
232 per l,000,''of which 202 were from disease. 

The mortality of our~army ^during the present ^war^up to the date of 
the last report we have, has-been 72 per 1,000, of which 20 died from 
wounds and 52 from^diseasc. 

It thus appears that the rate' of mortahty from disease with'_ United 
States forces in the Mexican war ims douUe, with the British forces in] the 
Peninsula, more tlian doullc, and with the British forces in the Crimea, 
nearly /oiw times the average'rate experienced in"the existing war for the 
period for which we have statistical]tables. Our inspector3*_have shown, 
that two regiments, seperatcd by a quarter of a mile only, contained in 
one camp not a dozen sick men, and in the other, two hundred and fifty 
men, more orHess ill with dysenteric; diarrhoea, and all because one was 
on a plain, with decent well water at hand, and the other in a wood, with 
a wretched puddle of black ditch water as the only resource for drinking 
and cooking. At the date of one of the earliest^'eportsjof the Commis- 
sion, of the camps inspected, five per cent, were in admirable order, forty- 
five per cent, fairly clean, twenty-six per cent, negligent and slovenly, 
and twenty-four peifcent. decidedly bad, filthy and dangerous. 

The Commission knows, from data in its possession, that^attentionjo 
sanitary laws has each year become more generally understood to be a 
part of the duty of a military officer, and^that this has added immensely 
to the general health and comfort of the army. It has the belief that this 
result may in part be attributed to its exertion.s. 

This branch of its workps in many respects the most^important the 
Commission has undertaken. It^is far better to ivcep mc:i well, than to 
let them become sick and then cure them. 

Its cost in the Western Department, for^threejyears and ten months, 
has been !f^24,0()!}.15, or about iip8,500 a year, [n nil human prol)ability it 



15 

has kept more than (S,500 men out of the hospital each year — the Com- 
mission has reason to believe more than that nnmber ont of their graves. 

P'L'lii.K'ATIONS. 

Tliis is the only extended medinai of communication between the 
public and the Commission, by and through which its wants are made 
known, and information furnished But it has, if possible, a larger and 
more important field. 

Most of the surgeons of the volunteer army have been taken from civil 
practice, and for a very long time no books or even circulars of instruc- 
tion in regard to their novel responsibilities were supplied them by the 
Government. By this department, monograms prepared by the ablest 
men of the country, upon all the special topics most important for an 
army surgeon to be informed about, have been furnished gratuitously, and 
in compact foim, to almost aU the medical mon in the army. 

These works have been small, modest, and printed with as little ex- 
pense as possible ; they form a portable professional library, and the 
Commission believe them to have been of great value. 

The expense of this branch of the work in the Western Department 
for two years and ten months, has been $5,283.88, or less than 2,000 a 
year, nearly all of which has been for the publication of information to be 
distributed gratuitously. 



These, accoi'ding to the last financial x'cport of the United States Com- 
mission, embrace all outlays not exckisively belonging to any of the 
named divisions, but shared partly by each, and incurred in the general 
administration of the affairs of the Commission. It must be at once 
manifest that the organization, superintendence and wise administration 
of these various divisions require one or more central heads or depots. 
Of these, one is at Washington, and one at Louisville, the latter being 
for the Western Department of the Commission. It is impossible to do 
the work without thein, and they are managed with the utmost economy, 
and with cons-taut watchfulness. If this work is to be done at all, sala- 
ries must bi paid. The great error of tb.ose who suppose that a volun- 
teer agency can carry on (he details of the work of the commission, must 
arise from their failure to comprehend the extent and variety of its action. 
It is comparatively ea^y to carry on the Supply Department in such a 
way, as is evident from the small per centage of cost in that department, 
but the other departments must have systematic, educated, continued 
labor, and necessarily, therefore, paid labor. The Commission well 
knows that important as the work of the Supply Department is, its other 
departments ar^ quite as much so. 



16 

The members of the Commission and of its various Branches, cheer- 
fully give their time and attention without pay. Such agents as in their 
judgment they find it necessary to employ, must be paid. The whole 
expense of the Western Department since its organization, exclusive of 
the several matters before enumerated, which, though so called, are not 
really expenses, but money paid for work done,, has been less than 
$10,000 a year, and this includes office rent and oflBce salaries, postage, 
stationery, office printing, advertising, office expenses, telegrams and 
some freight. The telegrams, alone, if paid for, would cost a large per 
cent, of the amount, Through the generosity of the telegraphic compa- 
nies they are sent free. 

And in counting cost, what is the value of the Commission to the 
Northwest ? Every dollar expended in the various departments by the 
Western Secretary, has been furnished him by the Central Commission, 
and has come from other sources than ourselves, mostly from California. 
Our contributions have beeen exclusively devoted to supplies, and the 
Hospital Directory, the Department of Publication, the Department of 
Medical Inspection, Hospital Transports and Hospital Cars. Homes and 
Lodges have, each and every one of them, been supported and main- 
tained in the West for us, without cost to us, our only return being such 
supplies as we have furnished and forwarded. Indeed, the expense of 
handling these supplies after they left om' doors, has been met, and 
cheerfully met, from the same source. 

This statement is mostly a compilation made from the reports and 
documents of the Commission from time to time published, so that the 
facts here given have always been open to the public. It is much too 
short if the idea had been entertained of giving even a synopsis of the 
vast work of the Commission. 

Its method and manner of " Hospital Steamboats " and " Hospital 
Cars " remain unexplained. It has its Claim Agency to secure the 
soldier's bounty. Its Pension Agency. Its Back-pay Agency. In all 
its Homes, East and West, twenty-three hundred soldiers daily receive 
shelter, food, medical aid, protection and care. It has especially investi- 
gated the hygienic condition and medical wants of hospitals, reporting to 
the proper authorities their structural and administrative defects, and 
preparing plans and details for the required improvements. It has 
exerted itself to the utmost to convey the means of relief to our famished 
and sickly prisoners in the hands of the enemy. It has faithfully repre- 
sented to the proper authorities the absolute necessity of an improved 
ambulance system, and the duty of organizing and keeping in constant 
readiness an adequate reserve force to succor the wounded. It has kept 
before the pubhc the vital importance of rendering supplementary aid to 
the sick and wounded. 



IT 

The Commission was in session almost continuously for the first three 
or four months after its organization, preparing and developing its plan 
of operations. Time and experience have proved the wisdom of its 
method and manner of work, and it confidently relies upon the intelli- 
gence and liberality of the public for its continued success. Only so long 
as it is so sustained will it be in the field. In the words of the first 
General Secretary, Frederick Law Olmstead, addressed to his associate 
Secretary, Dr. Newberry, " When the money gives out, we are to scuttle 
and go down — till then, do our work thoroughly." 

CnicAGO, Dec. 22, ISiH. 

E. B. McCAGG, 
President Norlh-Western Branch U. S San. Com. 



The Compensated Agency of the U. S. Sanitary 
Commission Explained and Defended. 



AViiY does not the Sanitary Commission employ a volunteer, unpaid 
a^jency l* Wh^^ does it pm'sue the system of compensating those who 
carry on its operations? Ts this not a needless expense, diminishing 
that much the charities of the patriotic '? Is there not benevolence 
enough in the nation to provide, if need be, an army of Sanitary laboi'- 
ers to work gratuitously for our brave and patient soldiers '? Are there 
not thousands who would delight to engage in such labors of love for a 
few weeks at a time, relieving each other by a constant succession ? 
And would not such a plan ensure more sympathy between the people 
and the arm}^, and also between the people and the Sanitary Connnis- 
sion ? 

These questions are often asked in all sincerity and good faith, and 
properly demand an answer. Indeed, were no answer given when such 
inquiries become genei'al, the silence might lie interpreted as inability to 
justify tlie operations of the Commission, and as a reason M'hy the ]iublic 
should seek another channel of communication with the armj-. 

For the information of the patriotic public, then, let it be known first 
of all, that the Sanitary Commission uses volunteer and unpaid lal.)or to 
the full extent of its availabilit3^ Its supply department is managed 
almost wholly on this jDrinciple. By the supply department is here 
intended the arrangement for obtaining supplies from the people. A'ery 
few paid soliciting agents have been employed to make appeals to them ; 
fewer than the cause demanded, and fewer than have been employed by 
other bodies. The treasury and storehouses of the Sanitary Commission 
have suffered from the midue economy practised in agencies, advertising, 
printing, and other costly measures commonly resorted to, to keep a 
cause before the public. It has trusted almost entirely to the sponta- 
neous liberality of the loyal people. The various branch commissions 
are operated gi'atuitously by business and professional gentlemen, at a 
mere nominal expense for rent, clerk hire and the like ; and yet through 



19 

them, by unpaid ageucios and labors, have coiae the )»ulk of tlie stores 
distributed in the army. 

Moreover, in the work of distribution resort is had to gratuitous 
volunteer aid, where the case admits of it. Thus it has been customary, 
^'ter bloody engagements, to forward to the army large companies of 
volunteer svu'geons and ninxies for temporary service till the emergency 
had passed. Some noble men have also given their services for a pro- 
tracted term. There is no disposition to discard gratuitous labor where 
it can be made efficient. 

But it must )iext 1>.> remarked, that in the larger portion of the 
operations of the Sanitaiy Commission it is clearly impossible to cmplo}' 
a gratuitous agency. The work is such as to demand permanent paid 
laborers in order to be done at all. And here it is necessary to correct 
the common misapprehension, that the distribution of hospital supplies 
is the whole, or principal work of the Sanitary Commission. It consti- 
tutes but one of several departments. There, for instance, is the Back 
Pay and Pension Department, for assisting discharged soldiers or their 
friends to obtain their claims upon the government ; with reference to 
which the idea of using a mere gratuitous, volunteer agency is as absurd 
as to expect to carry on the Treasury Department of the Government in 
like manner. The business must be done with care, method and intelli- 
gence, and with a sense of responsibility also, which result only from 
long experience and official training. There is the Hospital Directory 
Department, recording the names of all soldiers who enter the army 
liospitals, with their transfers from point to point, and their death or 
discharge. To this department application is made by thousands 
monthly to discover the life, death or condition of those from whom they 
have heard nothing. It requires a numerous and careful set of agents to 
(jbtain the hospital returns, keep the corresponding books, and answer 
inquiries orally or by letter. And these agents cannot be changed every 
few weeks, without defeating the whole object. Their experience is 
worth more than gold. They nnist be retained permanently, and there- 
fore receive a salary for support. There is the Department of Army 
Inspection, employing a large nvunber of able physicians, who spend 
their entire tinio in going from camp to camp throughout the seat of war, 
inspecting the condition of the men and the situation of the camps, 
infjuiring into diet, clothing, personal habits, and the regimen of the 
array in respect to hygiene, making suggestions to officers and men, and 
obtaining numerous and minute statistics for future publication. These 
latter (some of which have recently been submitted to scientilic Ijodies 
n luirope, and ehcitod great surprise and commendation), are of the 
utmost value and could not be obtained and recorded by any but profes- 
sional and experienced persons, who must be employed for long periods 



20 

and be paid for their services. Take, again, the Kehef Depaituient, witli 
its Hospital Cars and its numerous Soldiers' Homes scattered through 
the land at all the principal points reached by the soldiers on their way 
to or from the army, where the hungry are fed, the naked are clothed, 
and the houseless are sheltered and lodged ; and how is it possible to 
entrust their management to volunteer, gratuitous agents, changing evei^" 
month or six weeks ? As well undertake to conduct a city hotel on that 
principle. Then there is the work of publishing and circulating the 
series of documents issued by the Sanitary Commission, many of them 
of a medical nature, giving the latest results of medical science and 
surgical art with reference to camp diseases and injuries received in 
battle. These must be prepared with care by competent men at the head 
of their profession, and must be published and widely distributed with 
ungrudging outlay. Consider, then, the Distribution of Supplies. There 
must surely be permanent agents at almost every military post, to receive 
and handle the goods at the storehouses, to see to arrangements with 
railroads, steamboats, quartermasters and teamsters, to keep account of 
stock, and make delivery to the distributing agencies in the field, and to 
make stated reports to the Commission. But few men liave the business 
knowledge and tact to fill these places ; and to obtain and retain them, 
they must have proper compensation. Wo agency for aiding the army 
fretends to employ gratuitous labor in this part of the worlc. But yet, 
again, over the multitude of distributors of supplies there must be per- 
manent superintendents to direct them where to labor, to instruct them 
in the details of their work, and to be responsible to the Central Commis- 
sion for the proper organization and efficiency of the force sent to the 
field. These must be wise, capable, experienced men, permanentl}'' 
engaged in the cause, and of course supported by the funds of the Com- 
mission. And such jxiid agency every Commission employs that lahors 
for the good of the army. 

Now two things may be here observed : first, that no Agency but 
that of the Sanitary Commission even pretends to do anything in the 
various departments named, with the exception of the last; so that if, 
in order to avoid paid agencies, the public should desert the Sanitary 
Commission, it would necessitate the utter abandoning of work as neces- 
sary and important as that of hospital supplies ; and secondly, that the 
respects in which it has already been proved that a paid agency is indis- 
pensable, and is actually used by all Commissions, are so numerous that 
very little is left about which to dispute. These cover perhaps three- 
fourths of the expense incurred by the Sanitary Commission in the 
remuneration of those whom it employs. 

But that no evasion may seem to be practised, the case will be still 
Au'ther examined with reference to the small part of the work which 



21. 

rulattis to the final distribution of supplies to the soldiers. It will 
naturally be asked, Whether good, benevolent men, could not be secured 
to act gratuitously for brief periods of a month or six weeks, in convey- 
ing the supplies from the storehouses to the hospitals, and in making 
distribution among sick and wounded? If laymen cannot lea^e their 
business, can not the pastors of churches be sent on short visits to the 
army for this purpose ? It may be answered, that if the Sanitary Com. 
mission were to do this, the agency could hardly be called gratuitous; for 
the churches would still support the pastors and their families by the 
continuance of their salaries, and would also supply the vacant pulpits 
at considerable cost, while the Commission would pay the traveling 
expenses and the board in the army. Instead of being properly a gra- 
tuitous operation, it would be borrowing and supporting a paid agency at 
not a small incidental expense. In every department of work somebody 
must support the workmen. It were better to add, if necessary a few 
dollars more, call it a compensated labor, and secure the obvious advan- 
tages of the latter plan. These advantages may be summed up in per- 
manence, efficiency and economy. 

1. A paid agency will le fermancnt. All who need the labor of 
others value permanence of arrangement. No housewife likes to change 
her cook or chambermaid every month. No charitable asylum for or- 
phans or the blind, for the insane or for the deaf and dumb, would 
choose a gratuitous monthly service from friends rather than a paid per- 
manent service. If a business man finds a good clerk, he wants to keep 
him. Suppose, now, a company of volunteer agents visit the army, and 
two or three of them prove to be admirably qualified for the work, 
would it not be good policy to secure their services permanently by offer- 
ing such a salary as would enable them to remain ? Could money be 
better expended '? Why send them away to let inferior men come in 
their place, even if the latter will serve for nothing ? 

2. A paid agency is the most efficient. Under the idea of efficiency 
we may include as elements, selection, order, responsibility and experi- 
ence. To work to the best advantage in extended operations, selected 
men must work under strict discipline and for long periods. Those to 
be employed must be carefully chosen, not merely for general good 
character, nor even for special piety and usefulness in other fields, but 
for adaptation to the particular work. But if the Sanitary Commission 
were to depend upon volunteer agency, they could not use the same par- 
ticularity of selection as at present. Ten times as many agents would 
be needed during the year, and these must often be hastily accepted 
as they might offer, especially as the temptation would be strong to 
avoid giving offence by their rejection, in case they were persons of influ- 
ence in the community. Consequently with the good men would be 



22 

sent uiany utterly unqualitied for the work. The present plan gives op- 
portunity for careful selection in the case of every individual, and thus 
secures an efficient corps of laborers from the outset. In the held, 
moreover, each laborer mu,st be rigidly held to his proper place and the 
prescribed method, and be made responsible for his portion of the work. 
This can be very partially done under a gratuitous, volunteer system, in 
which men come of their own accord, stay for a brief term, have their 
curiosity to gratifj^ work for nothing, and feel correspondingly indepen- 
dent. It is useless here to say that good men, Christians and clergymen 
at that, will be free from irregularity and insubordination. Human na- 
ture is human nature even in such worthy representatives, and agents 
will generally take improper liberty, and feel a degree of irresponsi- 
bility, who are here to-day and gone to-morrow, and whose labors ai'e a 
gratuity. The vast extent and great importance of the operations of the 
Sanitary Commission, involving the distribution of supplies to the value 
of millions of dollars, require, on simple business principles, that it should 
have agents perfectly under its control, and of whom it stands in no fear. 
It is essential, on the one hand, that the agents be dependent upon it for 
their employment and support, and subject continually to orders of a 
superior authorit}", which they must obey ; and, on the other hand, that 
the Commission be independent of their good will, and not necessitated 
to use them for subsequent appeals to the people. It must not be in 
bondage to gratuitous laborer?, nor under temptation from them. 

And then the necessity of long and varied experience to efficient la- 
bor need scarcely be argued with an intelligent public. An experienced 
man can not only do twice the work of a novice in the same time, but 
can do it twice as well. He knows where to go, what to do, how to do 
it, whom to see. He learns the peculiarities of men with whom he has 
to deal. He becomes familiar with plans, methods, and localities. He 
acquires tact as well as knowledge. He is worth twice as much the 
second month as he was the first, and as much more still the third. 
Would it be wisdom, then, for the Sanitary Commission to abandon a 
plan which gives them the advantage of disciplined, responsible, and 
experienced agents, and to adopt one which would make them dependent 
upon a succession of raw, undisciplined, irresponsible and inexperienced 
hands, coming fresh from the people every month or six weeks'? Let 
common sense return the answer. 

o. A paid agency is the most economical. This afliniiation is made 
advisedly, as the result of observation and experience, and thoughtful 
men will see nothing strange in it. It would not surprise a merchant 
to tell him that paid clerks would be more economical than tlie volunteer, 
gratuitous and inexperienced friends who might offer to assist him, or 
even that well-paid clerks were more economical than those i>oorly paid. 



23 

To judge of economy in a particular case, we must consider more than 
the money laid out in expenses. The true test is the relation of expense 
to results. A high rent is sometimes cheaper than a low rent, provided 
the locality be superior, llou^ekecpevs imderstand that a cook at ten 
dollars a month might cost a family less than anotlier at five, or even at 
nothing. Indeed, not a few assistants in every line of liusiness are dear 
iit nothing. 

The economy of sanitary operations depends on the amount they 
cost the public and the government as well as the treasury of the Oom- 
mission, the proportion the expenses bear to the business done, and the 
saving as well as the disbursement attending the plan adopted. If the 
Sanitary Commission should send a new set of clerical <listributing 
agents into the field every month or six weeks, the incidental expense 
to the churches of supplying the pulpits left vacant, to the railroads and 
the goverimient of furnishing transportation, and to the Commission of 
caring for them in food and lodging, would vary but little from what 
would be required to keep paid agents at work continuouslly. The rela- 
tions of permanent rather tlian transient agents to the Government may 
seem of small consequence, but Gen. Sherman thought otherwise, and 
protested earnestly against the constant moving of delegates and agents 
over the roads, saying (hat its cost and annoyance to the Government 
were not to be tolerated. There was not ability to transport soldiers 
and munitions of war rapidly enough to meet the demands of the service, 
and every man of these agents occupied the room of a soldier, or his 
weight of powder and shell. He was finally compelled to exclude them 
entirely from the trains. 

But the comparative economy of paid over unpaid agents is to be es- 
timated chiefly from the use of the stores entrusted to them. The expe- 
rience of all charitable societies confirms the assertion, that nothing re- 
quires more tact, discernment and caution, to avoid waste, than the 
distribution of benefactions to the needy. Between the covetousness of 
the recipient and the sympathetic eagerness of the benefactor, there will 
always be unwise profusion till long experience creates wariness and 
caution. More will be given to the really needy than their wants require, 
while dishonest applicants will carry ofi" what should be reserved for 
cases of genuine distress. The army increases rather than diminishes 
this I'isk. The tricks and cunning of a vetci'an campaigner, and his 
ability to tell a story adapted to the circumstances, have made the ex- 
pression proverbial, " to come the old so'ger " over a person. Hence, if 
the Sanitary Commission should follow the advice of some, and substitute 
transient, volunteer, unpaid agents or delegates, the result would be im- 
mense waste of supplies, not through dishonesty but unwisdom. It 
would never have any but inexperienced hands. By the time a delegate 



24 

had acquired a little skill, his brief term of service would expire, and he 
would give place to a raw laborer. But under the present plan the same 
agent continues for months at the same work and often at the same post, 
and consequently gains such experience as enables him to detect impos- 
ture or unreasonableness in others, and to restrain undue S3'mpathy and 
eagerness in himself. xVnd here we arc to remember how much more 
ready men are to be lavish with a public fund than with their own pri- 
vate charities, and how this temptation would increase, if they volunteered 
their services, and estimated the good done and the impression of their 
subsequent report b^^ the amount of supplies distributed. 

In view of these obvious considerations, familiar to all who manage 
public charities, is it unreasonable to assert, that a permanent and paid 
agency would make ninety dollars go as far as a transient, volunteer 
agency would a hundred '? If so, then the Sanitary Commission save by 
their present plan, in the hospital supply department alone, three times as 
much as the entire expenses of all the departments. It will thus be seen 
that the seeming cost of a paid agency in the work of distribution is repaid 
many times over. And what we arrive at by fair reasoning from the known 
facts of human nature and of other benevolent operations, is corroborated 
by observation and experience in the Sanitary Commission work. The 
testimony often comes back from the field that the system saves more 
than it costs. After watching the experiments of ourselves and others 
with special care, we are assured that the system of permanent, compen- 
sated agency is not only the best as regards eflBciency and economy, but 
is in truth the only system on which so varied and extensive operations 
can be carried on. 

. Rkv. W. W. PATTOX, D. 1)., 

Vicc-Pi-f/f. X. W. Branch V. S. San. Com. 



REPORT FOR NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER. 



Receipts of Hospital Supplies for November and December, 1864. 



Arm Slings 27 

Bandages boxes, i 

Bed Sacks .-16 

Coats, Pants and Vests 7 

Comfort Bags 2 

Comforts .21;") 

Drawers - . prs. 1 085 

Dressing Gowns 102 

Eye Shades 45 

Feathers lbs. oO 

Mattresses 2 

Mittens ...2 

Oil Silk yd. 1 

Pads - 215 

Pillow Cases t)25 

Pillows (341 

Pin Cushions - -..28 

Shirts 1371 

Sheets 24.0 

Slippers -- prs. 58 

Socks '• .338 

Straw Beds 

Table Cloths 1 

Towels and Handkerchiefs.. 2181 

Wrappers 5 

Combs 20 

Pins - pa. 40 

Soap .. lbs. 49 

Sponge " 10 

Reading Matter boxes, l) 

Apple Butter kegs, 2 

hali-bbl. 1 

Apples, green bbls. 20 

Beans bbls. 3i 

Butter lbs. 615 

Can Fruit can.s, 572 

Catsup bot. 54 



Cheese lbs. 170 

Chickens fi 

Cloves oz. 4 

Codfish lbs. 50 

Coffee " 1 

Cookies ...bbls. 1 

" _ boxes, 1 

Corn Meal ..lbs. 40 

Corn Starch lbs. 4G 

Cracked VV heat " 40 

Crackers " 210 

Dry Beef " 10 

Dry Fruit, asstd, lbs. 5,002 

Eggs doz. SO 

Farina, lbs. 7 

Halibut " 5i 

Hazelnuts qts. 3 

Herbs lbs. 20 

Hominy " 10 

Horse-Raddish galls. 13 

Mustard lbs. 7 

Onions bus. 402 

Pepper Sauce bot. 12 

Pickles bbls. 26G 

" ...half'* 35 

'' kegs, 159 

" cans, 25 

Pop Corn .lbs. 98 

Potatoes bus. 3,390 

Sauer Kraut bbls. 10 

Sugar... lbs. 1 

Tea, " U 

Vegetables... bas. 1908 

Vinegar galls. 40 

Blackberry Syrup .bot. 3 

Wine "150 

Uninvoiced Boies 13 



86 



Shipments of Hospital Stores for November and December, 1864. 



Arm Slings. IH 

Bandages boxes, 18 

Beds - ft 

Body Wrapi)ers 24 

Coats -8 

Comforts 251 

Drawers prs. 2808 

Dressing Gowns _ 203 

Eye Shades 36 

Mattresses - --l 

Mittens prs. 288 

Pads --876 

Pillow Cases ...460 

Pillows 1,001 

Sheets 339 

Shirts... 3,588 

Slippers i 2T 

Socks 579 

Spring Beds — 1 

Towels and Handkerchiefs.. 1,766 

Reading Matter boxes, 27 

Soap - ..lbs. 23 

Paper, Envelopes and Pens. box 1 

Bedsteads 2 

Bowls... -120 

Coal Hods ...-4 

Lamps 48 

Pans 2 

Pitchers... 12 

Plates ...doz. 4 

Stove Pipe joints, 35 

Stove Grates 6 

Stoves 6 

Wick doz. 3 

Blackberry Syrup bot. 24 

Cordial " 29 

Brandy... " 1 

Catawba Wine " 24 

Domestic Wine " 57 



Ginger Wine bot. 24 

Whiskey.-.. " 12 

Kerosene Oil... ..galls. 40 

Apple Butter... kegs, 48 

Apples bbis. 21 

Beans " 10 

Butter lbs. 4,349 

Can Fruit cans, 770 

Catsup " 17 

Cheese lbs. 44 

Codfish " 50 

Coffee " 1 

Cookies bbls. 1 

Corn Meal -lbs. 55 

Cornstarch " 50 

Crackers--- lbs. 13,200 

Dry Beef lbs. 10 

Dry Corn " 51J. 

Dry Fruit, asstd, " 7,800 

Eggs doz. 30 

Ginger lbs. li 

Herbs — " 85 

Horse-Raddish - . galls. 3 

Mustard lbs. 9 

Nutmeg -- " 2 

Onions - . bus. 5,479 

Potatoes " 5,873 

Pickles bbls. 250 

.half" 19 

" kegs, 236 

'• ..cans, 29 

Sauer Kraut. .bbls. 160 

Sponge ..lbs. 5 

Syrup .galls, SO 

Su2;ar lbs. 1 

Tea " 60 

Vegetables, asstd bus. 750 

Wheaten Grits lbs. 40 

Uninvoiced Boxes 65 



RECAPITULATION : 

Number of packages received during Nov. and Dec, 1864, 3,362 

shipped '*" " " " " ..- 8,202 

Whole number shipped from the beginning, - — 68,80.3 

Supplies of the two months were sent to Cairo, 111., Louisville, Ky., 
Nashville, Tenn., St. Louis, Mo., ]\[ound City, 111., Leavenworth, Kansas, 
Soldiers' Rest, Soldiers' Home and the Marine and Desmarres Hospitals, 
Chicago, Illinois. 



27 



Receipts from Soldiers' Aid Societies for November and December. 



1 L L 1 N I S 



Albion . -pkgs. 5 

Asbiivy . . 2 

Aurora . _ _ 222 

Ikll Mound 1 

Batavia 7 

Batavia 1 

Barrington ..(i 

Belvidcrc 7 

Blackberry 7 

Blandinsvillc ....2 

Brickton . _ .... (> 

Bristol Station 1 

^Cottage Hill 8 

C'aiiton 4 

Chanahon 1 

Clarion . I 

( Jlear Creek 2 

V'ast Oswego 1 

East Paw Paw 1 

East Wheatland 1 

Elgin 2 

Elmira 8 

EiPaso 2 

Elizabeth 1 

Eureka 1 

Evanston 'J 

Fair Haven - . 2 

Farmers' i 

Franklin :> 

Freeland 1 

Frceport 3U 

Fremont J 

Fulton 7 

Garden Plain 2 

Geneseo _ . 22 

Green Garden (j 

Hammond 1 

Hampshire 1 

Hardin^!;, through Ottawa, i 

Harvard 4 

Hennepin 5 

Henry 1 

Hermon ,1 

Jefferson 471 

" 47 wagon loads vegetables. 

Joliet o 

Kane Station 8 



Kaneville — - - pkgs. I 

ivanlvakee 1 

Kew.Tiiee 2!) 

L,a Fayetio I 

lianark 20 

Lake Forest 1 1 

Lamoille — 1 

La Salle Co. Fair IIH 

Lea Center 11 

Leland 7 

Leiaont - o 

Lena -2 

Lewiston _ . 5 



Lisle 

Lockport. 
Lostant.. 



1 

J 

1 

Macomb 2 

Maiden 1 

Malta 16 

Manteno .- 1 

McHenry 1 

Mendota 1 

Meriden 2 

Meriden, through Ottawa o 

Millersburg 1 

Minooka . 1 

Mission 1 

Momence 1 

Moline 15 

Monroe Center 1 

Morris, 1 

Neponset — 12 

New Boston 8 

Niles 1 

Norman 4 

North Princeton -i 

Ogle County 38 

Oswego ■-> 

Ottawa -- --8 

Paris 1 

Palatine 3 

Pavilion and Long Grove 

Pleasant G rove Jl 

Point Pleasant 2 

Polo ....'. 135 

Pontiac 2 

Portland 1 



*Anfl one Package, credited in Sept. as unknown. 



^^ 



Prairie pl?gs. 1 

Princeton _ 2 

Richmond 1 

Ridott 10 

Rio .. 8 

Rockfoid 7 

Rock Island 11 

Rockton _ 3 

Sandwich 1 

Saratoga 1 

Scales Mound 4 

Shannon 1 

Solon Mills 2 

Somonauk , 1 

South Grove 3 

Squaw Grove _ 3 

Specie Grove 4 

St. Charles.. 2 



Sterling pkgs. 3 

Stockton 3 

Sublette 8 

Sycamore 

Texas Township 

Tiskilwa .- 

Victor 

Ward's Grove : 

Warren 2 

Warsaw 1 

Washington .-.. 1 

Watseka - 1 

Waukegan ..17 

West A urora 53 

Wheatland 2 

Wheaton .2 

Winslow 2 

Woodstock 30 



WISCONSIN 



A Ibion , pkgs, 2 

Appleton 15 

Argyle 1 

Beaver Dam 2 

Bellevue 5 

Reloit ..6 

Blooming Prairie 1 

Brick School House 2 

Clinton 2 

Cypress 1 

Dakota _ . 6. 

Darlington and Center 1 

Darien 1 

East Delavan 2 

East Troy 4 

Elkhorn _ 1 

Fond du Lac 72 

Janesville 10 



Kenosha pkgs. 1 

La Crosse ..4 

Milwaukee 3ti3 

Monroe 2 

Newark 8 

Omro - 1 

Oshkosh 11 

Platteville 4 

Pleasant Prairie 1 

Racin6 2 

Rosendale 2 

South Bristol 2 

South Turtle _ 1 

Trempeieau 1 

Trenton (i 

Vinland J 

Whitewater 17 



I () AV A 



Adel pkgs. 1 

Afton 1 

Birmingham 1 

Brush Creek 18 

Burlington 101 

Cedar Falls. 28 

Cedar Rapids 8 

Centre Point 1 

Centreville 2 

Clear Creek 10 

Columbus 4 



Crawfordsville pl<gs- ''' 

Dakota 3 

Davenport .8 

DesMoines 2 

Dubuque 2 

Durant - 32 

Earlville 8 

Eddyville 1 

Eldora 1 

Elkador 15 

Epworth 1 



29 



Guthrie Center pkgS- 6 

Highland. 

Hopkins' Grove 1 

Iowa San. Com 3 

Jancsvillc .12 

Keosauqiia ] 

Kirkville .... 1 

Kossuth . 1 

LeGrand 7 

Liberty and Spring Rock _ 1 

Liberty and Spring Township 2 

Lovilia 2 

Marietta 6 

Marion 13 

Marshalltown 2 

Masonville 1 

McGregor 9 

Mechanicsville 21 

Mount Pleasant 21 

New Hartford 5 



New London pkgs. 8 

N. Iowa San. Fair 404 

Onawa 1 

Oskaloosa 16 

Pella 6 

Peosta 8 

Pleasant Ridge 1 

Princeton 10 

Red Oak 5 

Salem 1 

Sciola 1 

Shell Rock 1 

Springville .10 

St. Charles 1 

Trenton 13 

Troy 1 

Warrenville 1 

Wayne 1 

Wittemberg ti 



MICHIGAN, 



Adrian pkgs. 5 

Allegan 4 

Ann Arbor. 10 

:iiattle Creek 3 

Bay State 8 

Branch County ..3 

Canandaigua 2 

Constantiiio 11 

Decatur 3 

Fairfield 3 

Fenlon .14 

Flint fi 

Galesburg 

Holly 

Howiandsville 

Kalamazoo 



1 

1 

1 

1 

^ansin? . 62 



Leslie pkgs. 28 

Lima A 

Manchester 1 

Martin 1 

Muskegon 3 

N. E. Fairfield 11 

wasso 10 

Pittsfield 1 

Port Huron 1 

Rollin 3 

Rome 1 

Saginaw City 3 

Salem 2 

South Haven 2 

Tecuraseh 2 

Unadilla. 2 



INDIANA 



Akron pkgs. 1 

Cedar Lake 3 

Huntsville - - 6 

New Carlisle 13 

N ew Haven 7 



Pierceton pkgs. 5 

Plum Grove 3 

Richland Center 3 

West Creek 3 



Toledo. 



H I O . 

.pkgs. 4 I Oberlin 



.pkgs. 3 



30 



M I N N E S T A . 



f>a Crescent pHg"'- I | Wmona - pkgs. S 

F'];)iiivicw 3 



N E AY YORK. 
Niagara Falls pkgs. 1 o | SkcneatvLis . . pkgs. 

Unknown . . . P^^g^- 



The Cominisss'on has r.ccivecl donations of various kinds of valuable 
supplies from the following parties in Chiai'];o: 

Mrs. Trumbull. I Miss Maiy M. Corie, j Master Eddie liutchins, 

S^t. Paul DcVincent Soc. I Stair, j Miss Rachel Booth, 

Society of Ch. (Jhuich, | Master Hervey Booth, I Grace M. E. Church. 



11 E A P I T U L A T ION. 

llliniMs packages 1586 

Wisconsin . . 56") 

Iowa 915 

Michigan -. — — 211 

Indiana '1* 

Ohio - - - 7 

M innesota — T 

New Y^ork 1 '' 

Unknown 11 

Total Eeceipts -3362 



Acconnl of Treasurer oftlie Nortli-festeru Sanitary Commission, 

FOR THE MONTHS OF NOVEBIBER AND DECEMBER. 1804. 



Dr. for the following Receipts in Cash : 

Xov. 2. Soldiers' Aid Society, Waukegan, III., per Mrs. F. 

E. Clark, Sec 154 70 

2. Soldiers' Aid Society, Bristol and Yorkville, 111., 

per Mrs. L. M. Sherwin, 200 00 

2. Employees of Richard's Manufacturing Co., Chica- 
go, per F. B. Pierce, Casdier 18 35 

2. C. B. Brown it Co.'s Manufacturing Co., Chicago. 124 75 

2. Collection at Athens, Mo., per A. M. Thorme..^._ ;3 20 

4. Collection at Bay City, Mich., per Chas. M. Averill, 
Chairman of Committee 177 1!* 

."J. Soldiers' Aid Soc, Dixon, III, per Mrs. E. Wood, 

President _. 800 00 

5. Collection at County Fair, per A. C. Cowles, Hen- 
nepin, Illinois 8 00 

7. Soldiers' Aid Society, Eock Island, 111., per Mrs. J. 
W. Spencer, President 150 00 

8. Mrs. Wilbur, per C. N. Shipman 10 00 

14. Mercer Co., Agricultural Fair, Millersburg, 111., per 

Mrs. C. F. Thornton, Treas. Soldiers' Aid Soc'y 100 00 

14. Proceeds of Young Misse.s' Fair, Evanston, 111., 
per Ella Bannister, 

Lizzie White, | 

R. B. Hoag, I 

M. C. Bragdon, ! ^ ^„,. „,, 

/1 r^ T. J r Com. 280 50 

(j. E. Bragdon, f 

James Ra3fmond, j 

Otis Tiffany. | 

15. .John B. Ideson & Co., Chicago 25 00 

15. Sanitary Society, Grundy County, 111., per L. B. 
Claypool, Morris, 111 1.000 00 

16. Employees of 111. Central R. R. Car Works, Chi- 
cago 111., per Charles F. Scoville - . 762 10 

17. Soldiers' Aid Society, Malta, 111., per Mrs. E. II. 
Clark, Treasurer 12 00 

17. Proceeds in part of Carroll Co., Fair, per Nelson 

Fletcher, Treasurer, Mt. Carroll, III 510 00 

Amount carried forward $4,230 79 



32 



Nov. 18. 

18. 

]R. 
18. 



25. 



20. 

28. 

28. 

28. 
28. 
28. 
28. 
28. 
28. 
28. 

28. 

28. 
28. 

28. 

28. 
28. 
28. 

28. 



Nov. 28. 

" 29. 

" 29. 

" 29. 

'• 29. 



Amount brought forward $4,2^0 7!) 

M. N. Kimball, Jefferson, 111., Monthly Subscrip. ' 10 00 
Soldiers' Aid Societ}'', Sycamore, 111., per Mrs. J. 

H. Bcveridge, Treasurer _. 1 00 00 

Additional from Soldiers' Aid Society, Dixon, HI., 

per Mrs. E. Wood, President 5(5 oi! 

Soldiers' Home, Cairo, being Savings to Nov. J, 

1864 .-.- 1,278 87 

Soldiers' Aid Soc'y, Elizabeth, 111., per II. Green, 40 70 

Employees of Eagle Works' Manufacturing Co., 

P. W. Gates, President - .' 42R do 

Contribution equally of Young Ladies' Loyal 

League and Soldiers' Aid Soc., Lansing, Mich., 

per Mrs. D. L. Case, Cor. Sec, S. A. S 114 42 

Henry Booth, Chicago ,.-. .j 00 

Collection in M. E. Church, Mt. Morris; III., per 

W. A. Smith, Pastor 1 7 80 

One Sunday's income Grace Episcopal Church, 

Chicago, per Rev. C. Loclcc, Rector 110 Ot i 

Robert Hastings, Jefferson. Ill ] 00 

Employees Cook County Poor House 4 00 

B. Chase, Jclfurson, 111 10 00 

U. L., Neoga, 111., per Mrs. S. T. Ailing 7 00 

Joseph Bickerdike, Jefferson, 111 10 00 

M. N. Kimball, " ' • _ _ 10 0( » 

Soldiers' Aid Society, Spring V"alle3% 111., per K. 

L. Chitty .." . ". 8 6.") 

D. Bogle, Chicago, 111 25 00 

Dist. No. 4, Leo Centre, 111., per C. H. Clark :i5 00 

Monthly Subscription, Gage's Lake, 111., per Miss 

Jane Jones ^ 1 05 

John Nixon, Delta, Mich. _ 5 00 

Employees of Holt & Calkins, Chicago GO 7o 

Mrs. C, Chicago T 1 00 

Collection M. E. (Jhurch, Crete, 111., per J. G. 

Cross, Pastor " 4 00 

Proceeds of sales of Boquets by Robbie Patton, 

Chicago ;> 30 

Collections of Chaplain Day in Mich., 

Flint 11251 68 

Saginaw City... 40 35 

E. Saginaw 110 57 

Bay Citv -.42 05 

Owasso.'.-. 30 97 

481 02 

Citizens of Dunton, 111, per J. N. Olmsted 100 00 

Davis, Wade & Co. and employees, Chicago, 111.- 50 00 

A Friend, per Rev. N. Colver / 5 00 

Balance of proceeds of Carroll Co. Sanit;iry Fair, 

per Nelson Fletcher, Trcas., Mt. Carroll, 111... 40 00 

Citizens of Dover, 111., per S. P. Bingham 37 20 

Amount carried forward $7,310 00 



33 

Amount brought forward $7,:110 06 

Nov. 22. Coll. nt Buckeye Courthouse, Effingham co., III., 

per Samuel Ward, Big Spring, 111. _ ] (j oo 

" 29. Coll. by Sol. Aid Society, per Mrs. D. H. Knowl- 

tO!i. Garden Plain, III _. J(i o<.) 

" 80. "Little Girls' Fair," at Clinton, DcWitt co., 111., 

per M. M. DeLewis _ 01 ,'55 

" oil. Sol. Aid Society, Green Garden, 111., per George 

B. "Wooil, 'J')cas - - _ :',S !)J 

" 8(1. Proceeds of Concert given at Sandwich, 1!!., by 

Mrs. Maria M. Gooding _ 1 y 0(> 

• " 80. Union Thanksgiving Service, one iialf coll. in Bap- 
tist I 'h., Moiine. 111., per W. 11. I'attison, Paster, IG 50 

•' 80 S. S. Cinldren, East Paw Paw, Mich 1 50 

Dec. 2. Dunlop, Scsvell & Spalding, Chicago, 111 lOO 00 

" 2. Sol. Aid Society, Port Iluron, Mich., per A. E. 

Wastcll, Sec - 50 00 

'■ 2. Coll. by John Bates, Neponset, III 88 00 

" 8. Thanksgiving Service, vSheffield, III 

per A. Lyman __ 27 05 

" 3. Sol. Aid Society, Rock Island, 111., per Mrs. J. G. 

Devoe, St c 1 yo oo 

" 3. Tiibutc of gratitude by a father in pursuit of his 
sick son, for assistanci' to pass tbrouizh the ar- 
my lines, John Willett, West C.-issto, Mich. - . 2 0(J 
" 5. Contributions of Masters and Ov/ners ol steam- 
boats and vessels clearinjr at ( iist(.m-Hou<e, 

Chicago, per Luther Haven, 557 00 

" 5. Contr's of employees in Custom House, Chicago. 

per Luth<'r Haven 63 00 

" 5. M. SchAveizcr, Chicago. . _ _. 11 83 

(5. Coll. M. E. Church,' Monticello, Wis., per J. J. 

Walker, pastor 80 Oo 

" 10. Contr'ns of Teachers of Public Schools of Chicago, 
per Mi.^s Lizzie C. Rust : 

High School $ 5 00 

Dearborn 13 40 

Jones 9 70 

Scammon : 22 30 

Kinzio 2 88 

Franklin 30 40 

Moseley 14 SO 

Brown 10 54 

Fester 18 22 

Ogden 45 

Newberry 28 00 

No. 12 11 45 

Skinner 84 47 

Haven 30 70 

S.Chicago 2 14 

Bridgepoit 9 15 

Colored 3 38 

Mr. Pickard, Superintendent 12 00 

M. Johnson, Clerk 3 00 282 4S 

5 Amount carried forward $8,773 28 



34 

Amoum; brought forward, $B,77':> 28 

Dec. lu. Thanksgiving Coll. Union Park Cong. Church, 

Chicago, per C. N. Stoughton 4-(i 00 

" 10. Thankf'giving Coll. 1st and 2d Cong. Church, 

Rockford, 111., per S. Rising 7 00 

10. Thanksgiving Coil. Universahst Soc, Eau Claire, 

Wis., per Rev. J. 0. Barrett 7 30 

" 10. Thanksgiving Coli. Cong. Church, Olivet, Mich., 

per I' . P. Woodberry '21 00 

■" 10. Monthly Cont'n M. N Kimball, Jefferson, 111 10 00 

" 10. Sol. Aid Society, Big Rock, Iowa, per R. H. Ran- 
dall, Pre s 26 00 

'' 10. Coll. in Pres. Church, Richland, Mich., per Rev. 

Milton Bradley 20 00 

" 10. Coll. Moline, 111., per Mrs. P. R. Reed, Pres. Sol. 

Aid Society 03 15 

" ] 0. Loyal Ladies of Spring township. 111., per E. R. F. 

Randolph, Belvidere, 111 76 00 

" 12. Proceeds sale of Hay donated by Jefferson 

Farmers, _ 30 70 

■' 12. " B. P." Chicago, 111 2 00 

" 12. Thanksgiving Coll., Juda, Green co. Wis., per B. 

L. Jackson 12 00 

" 12. Employees of Steam Forge Works of Pyiichon, 

Willard & Co., Chicago 18 00 

" 12. Mush and Milk Festival, Omro, Wis., per Mrs. M. 

G.Bradt.Sec. 25 00 

" 12. Mrs. Jones, Mineral Point, Wis 100 

" 12. Sociable of Sol. Aid Society, Solon Mills, 111., per 

R. R. Crosby, Sec 21 00 

" 12. Col!, in part Calvary Church, Farmington, 111 12 50 

" 12. I. P. Farnum, Chicago, 111 _ 5 00 

" 12. Friends in Lewiston, 111., per Rev. Glen Wood--_ 100 00 
" ]2. Ladies' Union League, Harrisburg, HI., per Char- 
lotte A. Baker 50 00 

" 12. R. T. Crane & Bro. and employees, Chicago, IlL. 304 22 
" 2-4-. Prospect Soldiers' Aid Society, Southampton, 

III., per Mrs. E. J. Bouslough, President 30 00 

" 24. Barclay Society, Polo 111., per N. B. Webster... 7 35 

" 24. Collection, Gage's Lake, 111,, per Miss Jane Jones 1 75 

" 24. Collection Granville Township, Putnam Co., per 

John I. Delatour, Granville, 111. 188 40 

" 24. First U. P. Church, Monmouth, 111., per Thomas 

Johnston, Jr 10 00 

" 20. Collection made on Christmas Eve by Eddie Prin- 

dle, per Mrs. C. C. Prindle, Dowagiac, Mich... 12 50 

" 20. German M. E. Church, Bremen, 111., per Rev. F. 

Klunkhorn, Pastor 5 00 

•' 29. Moses Cook, Crete, 111., $1. Mrs. Hagner, Crete, 
111., $1; both per Rev. Geo. Cross, Pastor M. 

E. Church .._ 2 00 

" 29. Samuel Ward, Big Spring, 111.— Neoga P. 0..-- 2 00 

Amount carried forward, . - - $9,890 75 



36 

Amount brought forward, . $9,890 75 

Dec. 29. Edgingtoii HoUlicrs' Aid Society, Hazlitt, ill, per 

Mrs. C. (}. Taylor 125 00 

" 20. Ladies of Universalist Cliuroh, Dowagiac, Mich , 

per Mrs. C. C. Prindle 10 00 

2!), M. Strauss, Chicago, i day's protits 30 00 

2U. 0. W. Town, Geiseva, 111 2 00 

29. (citizens of Washburn, Wis. per Nelson Newman, 27 00 

2!). Employes C. & R. I. K. R. Machine Shops, per 

F.W.Pullen 70 15 

29. Soldiers' Aid Society, Svyede Point, Iowa, per 

Mrs. S. K. Hii rlow" 1 7 (Ki 

29. Ladies of Penn. Township, Stark County, III, per 

Nelson N. West Chicago 40 00 

21). Albert Wclton, Cambridge, 111 5 Ot i 

y] . Proceeds of Private entertainment at the house of 
Mrs. 11. II. Fo-;s, Chicago, per Mrs. E,. H. Foss, 

Mrs. A. D. Lamb, Mrs." Bissell 200 Od 

;ri . Soldiers' Aid Society, Moline, 111., per Mrs. P. R. 

Reed, - 50 00 

:n. Christmas Eve Celebration of young people of 

Hiahiand, Iowa, per J. Stebbins i) Oo 

:J1. Walter L. Newberry, Chicago, III 200 0(i 

;U. Soldiers' Aid Society, composed of liulc girls of 
Mukwanago, Waukesha Co. Wis., per Lillian 

Payne IS 00 

:y[. New England Jeweirj'^ Company, Chicago, 111 200 00 

31. E. D. Smith, Menasha, Wi.s 33 00 

31. Collection at Paoli Circuit, Paoli, Wis. per Z. S. 

Hurd 20 00 

31. Collection at Ptotone, 111., by Milton 11. Smith, 

Milton Smith, I $5 00 

J. P. Dean, 2 00 

William Smith,... ..- 25 

Daniel Smith, 25 

Milton K. Smith, 1 00 

A. J.Baird, 2 00 

James A. Eahs, 1 00 

Thomas Urie, 1 00 

William Croxon, 50 

E. B. Cowin, 1 00 

Robert B. Riddle, 25 

James Yeomans, 50 

John Baird, 25 

R.Crawford,.- 2 00 

S. Goodspeed, 1 00 IS 00 

31. Soldiers' Home, Cairo, — Savings for month of 

December - - - 570 00 

31 . Geo. H. Gushing, Chieago, 111. 25 00 

31. Soldiers' Aid Society, Moiine, 111., raised atan 
Entertainment given for the " Mammoth Fair," 
perMrs. P. R.Reed 100 00 

Amount carried forward, $11,649 90 



3« 

Amount brought forward $11,649 90 

Dec. 31. The gift of the youno; people of Aurora, III., to the 
" Mammoth Fair," meney raisud by them at a 

Fair, per Misses Hoi ton and Howell 500 00 

" 31. Collection at Thanksgiving Service in Church of 
the " Holy Communion," Chicago, per Rev. 
Mr. Hagar 11 25 

TotaL.. .. $12,161 15 

In the Report for September and October, J. Roemheld, Chicago, 
should have been credited with $25, instead of $10, and T. W. V. P. 
Mercereau, Chicago, with $15, and H. Bronold, Chicago, with $1(». 



Cr. by following Expenses : 



HOSPITAL SUPPLIES. 

Apple Butter .gails. 092-;^ $736 50 

Ayers' Pectoral - . .bot's (1 fi 00 

Blackberry Cordial ---" ■>') 20 82 

Brandy " 2 4 00 

Chickoi) 35 

Crackers lbs. ;),y7<i 750 52 

Catawba Wine bot's 25 17 42 

Camp Cots '.»<) 00 

(linger Wine.- iiot's :J7 11 2i) 

Hay 20 20 

Jelly jars, 2 2 00 

Mittens doz. 24 48 00 

Madeira Wine bol's, 2 1 60 

Onions ....bus. 527 664 74 

Potatoes " 285 15110 

Socks doz. 25 131 85 

Sponge 48 8 00 

Slippers . . - . prs. 1 1 00 

Sauer Kraut bbls. 144 1.080 00 

Tea, green lbs. (i2 i)\j 40 

Tea pot 1 30 

Tobacco 50 00 

Whisky bot's, 12 '.) 50 

Packaares, boxes, §5 00, and .sacks, i?058 78 063 78 

" ' $4,870 96 

Soldiers' Home, Dubuque, fowa 1.000 00 



INCIDENTAL EXPENSES FOR NOV. AND DEC, 18(>4. 

Agent's salary and traveling expenses $755 06 

Nurses '' " " -^35 25 

Drayage, Freight and Express 569 75 

Printing Circulars, Reports & Headings, Stationery 701 35 

Postage - - - - 143 40 

Mucilage, 15c. ; Matches, 35c 50 

Lamps" aud Fixtures, >i;10 'JO; Tacks, 40c 11 30 

Tr&,ve]jng Expenses of Sick Soldiers 18 80 

Amount carried forward §2,734 41 $5,870 96 



38 

Amount brought forward $2,734 41 $5,870 96 

Prepariiic? Pickles, $7; Stove and Fixtures, $13 40 20 40 
Needles, oOc; Baskets, $9 ; Marking Material, 3 70 13 29 

Expenses of Murdock's Lecture 40 25 

Saw, 75c.; Keys, 1 75; Hinges, oOc 3 00 

Uottling and Casing Wine 44 50 

Rent -" 100 00 

Clerk Hire _ . 395 00 

Labor at Rooms and at R. R. Stations 244 50 

Fuel _ - 120 00 

Subscription to Newspaper for Hospital, Madison, 

Indiana . 3 00 

$3718 35 



EXPENSES. OF CAIRO AGENCY I Oil NOVEMBER AND 
DECEMBER, 18(;i: 

Expense fur Agency at (^airo. 111., (or November 

and December, 1SG4 

Salary of Agent 87 32 

WhaifBoat .. 33 80 

Printin'j; and Stationery 46 60 

167 72 

FXFENSES OF SOLDIEiJS' HOME, (JAIKO, ILL., FOR 

NOV. AND DEC, isU : 

Butter. _ lbs. 2.571 l.OOS 25 

Syrup gails. -Id 4S 12 

Bran ! :] 50 

Wheaten Grits 10 00 

Eggs 80 

Rferosene Oil galls. 40 39 13 

Stoves and Kitchen Furniture 159 55 

Plates.... doz. 4 10 30 

Stationery 23 00 

Nails and Tacks, 1 40; Cords and Pulleys, 1 00. 2 40 

Tongs, 75 cts.; Locks. 1 85; Wire, 30 cts 2 90 

Twine, 50 cts.; Pail, 80 cts.; Meat Pans, I 75-_. 3 05 

A xc Handle, 70 cts ; Coal Hods, 00 70 

Stove Pipe and Elbows, 25 08; Bowls, $25 50 OS 

Pitchers, 4 50; Lamps and Oil 2t) K) . 24 60 

Brooms, 5 10; Lamp Wick, 2 35 7 45 

Packages, 1 00 ; Postage, 5 Ou ij 00 

launch and Stamps, 2 75; Hinges, 2 00 4 75 

Lanterns, 8 00; Saws, 2 50; Mattresses, 5 50. Hi 00 

Spring Bed 20 00 

Bed Steads 2 14 00 

Labor of Cooks, Nurses, Baggagemen, Watch- 
man, etc., for the two months, 726 75 

Drayage . :! 00 

$2,200- 33 

Amount carried forwai-d ... $11 ,957 36 



39 

Amount brought forward $11,957 3t> 

EXPENSES CF SANITARY COMMISSION SEWING ROOM 
FOR NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER, 1864. 

Flannel - yds. 9,175 $,5585 27 

Delaine for eye-shades " 1?. 8 94 

Sewing Cotton doz. 87 113 70 

Sheeting yds. 330 109 52 

Handkerchiefs 210 27 00 

Yarn lbs. 25 46 25 

Tape doz.l6 11 40 

Buttons - gross, 101 10 92 

Making 199 shirts 73 87 

" 45 pairs drawers 11 25 

" 132 eye-shades 16 50 

Knitting 116 prs, socks 39 46 

Hemming 168 hdkfs 10 50 

Labor ...- _ -.. 89 75 

Rent, 66.66 ; machineoil, .25 ; needles, .80 ; screw- 
driver, .25 ; scrub-brush, .35 ; soap, .80 ; pitch- 

erl,00 70 11. 

$6224 44 

EXPENSE OF VEGETABLE PROCESSION. 

Printing, $12.80; flags, $12.00; band wagon, 

10.00; cheese, 4.90 39 70 

EXPENSES OF PROPOSED " GREAT SANITARY COMMISSION 
AND SOLDIERS' HOME FAIR." 

Express, $1.25 ; printing, 9.00 ; newspapers, .55 ; 
Minutes of Gen. A.ssembly, 1.50; ag'ts, 824.53; 
carpenter work, 66.50 ; stove, 91 ; table, 7 501 33 

Total, $ 18/r22 83 

E. W. BLATCHFORD, 

Treasurer of K. W. San. Com. 



RRANCn OF TriE 

U. S. SAfsJITARY COMMISSION, 

Rooms. No. 66 Madisou St., ChicagOj 111 



FINANCIAL li E F OR T, 

PROM THE DATE OF TUT. ORGAXIZATIOX Ol'' THE COMMISSION, 



OCTOBER 17tli. 1861, 

-10- 
DECEMBER 31st, 1864. 



1. SUPPLIES COLLECTED. 

During the three years and two months' existence of tlie 
Commission, there have been donated, collected, purchased, 
packed, and forwarded through its agency, for distribution to 
our soldiers in the Hospitals, armies and on the battle-fields, 
sixty-eight thousand eight hundred and three packages of Sani- 
tary and Hospital Supplies. 

Of this number there were sent directly by tlie 

people, from their homes, to the soldiers, 27,081 

The remainder contained supplies, purchased as 

stated below, 41,122 

Total, 08,803 



41 



2. OF WHAT THESE SUPPLIES CONSISTED. 

These supplies consisted of Articles of Diet, Medical Supplies, 
Clothing, Bedding, Bandages, Hospital Furniture, Ales and 
Liquors, prominent among which "vvere the folloAving : 



ARTICLES OF DIET. 



Dried Fruit Ihs. 288,950 

Crackers, Soda and 

Boston, lbs. 229,643 

Pickles galls. 121,170 

Codfish lbs. 113,153 

Condensed Beef. . . " 5,854 
Pickled Cabbage and 

Onions, galls. 18,080 

Pearl Barley lbs. 14,122 

Butter " 56,521 

Crushed Sugar ..." 46,249 

Saner Kraut galls. 28,100 

Assorted Vegeta's, lbs. 25,706 

Green Tea " 10,954 

Potatoes bus. 42,836 

Onions " 30,653 

Condensed Milk . .lbs. 18,577 
Canned Fruit . . .cans, 22,069 

Corn Meal lbs. 17,865 

Eggs, doz. 14,394 

Tapioca lbs. 1,330 



Lemon Syrup bot. 3,028 

Oysters cans, 1,354 

Oat Meal lbs. 1,483 

Graham Flour ... . " 1,000 

Arrow Root " 3,261 

Raspberry Vinegar, bot. 1,248 

Cracked AVhen t . . . lbs. 1 ,486 

Pepper Sauce. . . .bot. 1,718 

Farina lbs. 9,424 

Corn Starch " 3,928 

Cheese " 4,618 

Dried Beef " 6,736 

Rice " 1,686 

Prunes 50 kegs. 

Ground Pepper. . .lbs. 2,201 

Mustard '- 1,043 

Syrup gal. 271 

Apple Butter " 900 

Lemons boxes, 110 

Green Apples . . .bbls. 609 



CLOTHING. 



Shirts 77,124 

Drawers pairs, 42,611 

Socks " 20,129 



Dressing Gowns 5,728 

Slippers pairs, 4,769 

Body Wrappers 1,130 



BEDDING. 



Pillow^ Cases 46,634 

Pillows 36,354 

Sheets 28,609 



Comforts, and Blankets 14,217 
Bed Sacks 5,106 



42 



HOSPITAL PUKN^ITURE. 



BandagX'S, and Com- 
presses lbs. 265,194 

Towels and Haiidkfs. . 57,224 



Pads, and Cushions. . . 16,877 
Arra Slings 1,401 



STIMULANTS. 



Ale galls. 19,088 I Brandy 

Domestic Wine . . .bot. 6,501 Catawba Bitters 



Whisky " 3,377 

Assorted Liquors . . "■ 1,288 
Porter " 1,008 



" 224 

G54 

Cliloroform lbs. 100 

Ginger Wuie bot. 493 

Blackberry Cordial, bot. 218 



SUNDRIES. 



Envelopes 32,750 

Herbs lbs. 1,198 

Soap " 1,2501 

Kerosene Oil .... galls. 280 

Crutches pairs, 427 

Refldina: Matter. boxes. 358 



Musquito Bars 512 

Lime lbs. 15 

Washing Machines and 

Wringers 10 

Writing Paper, .reams, GO 

Pens ffross 8 



3. THEIR APPRAISED CASH VALUATION. 

The appraised cash valuation of these supplies at the respec- 
tive dates of their receipt by the Commission amounts to the 

total sum of 8964,059 71 

distributed as follows : 

Articles of Diet and Medical Supplies, $337,871 14 

Clothing, Bedding, Bandages, &c.,.. 558,023 83 

Hospital Furniture, Cots, Mattresses, 
Stoves and fixtures. Washing Ma- 
chines and Wringers, Table Furni- 
ture, &c 1 G,800 44 

Ale and Liquors, 8,974 30 

1443 Boxes received without accom- 
panying Invoices, appraised cash 
, value, 42,390 00 $9.64,059 7] 



43 



4. FROM WHERE SUPrHES HAVE BEEN RECEIVED. 

The 27,681 packages above mentioned, received directly 
from donors, came from the following sources : 



Illinois, packages, 

Wisconsin, 

loAva, 

Michigan, 

Indiana, 

Ohio, 

Minnesota, 

New York, 

Pennsylvania, 

Various places, through Chicago Board 

of Trade, 

Unknown, 



9,598 

6,909 

4,085 

5,264 

369 

22 

266 

8V 

4 

855 
167 

27,681 



5. TOTAL CASH RECEIPTS ANDIEXPENDITURES. 

The total amount of cash received by the Commission since 

its organization amoimts to $307,390 55 

Total amount expended, 287,479 76 



Balance, in the hands of the Treasurer, as per 

Auditors' Certificate, dated Dec. 31, 1864, , . . $19,910 79 



G. FROM WHERE CASH HAS BEEN RECEIVED. 

The above amount of cash collected — $307,390.55, was re- 
ceived from the following sources : 

Citizens of Chicago, $40,331 13 

State of Illinois, outside of Chicago, 55,541 68 

Iowa, of which $48,348 were proceeds of aSTorth- 

ern Iowa Sanitary Fair at Dubuque, 50,229 4(.t 

Carried forward, 146,102 21 



44 

Amount brought forward, 146,102 21 

Wisconsin, 8,597 86 

3iichigan, 7,901 28 

New York, 1 ,054 75 

Connecticut, '. 650 78 

Minnesota, ^ 565 02 

Tennessee, — Pi'oceeds of Ladies' Fair, held in 

Memphis, 898 31 

Indiana, 220 53 

California, 203 45 

Pennsylvania, 100 00 

Nebraska, 11 60 

Utah, 5 00 

Missouri, 3 40 

Berlin, 10 00 

Bavaria, ^ -. 8 00 

Soldiers in Army, 20 05 

Proceeds of sale of Cottoi], donated by Maj. 

Gen'l IT. S. C4rant 1 ,752 20 

Nett Cash Proceeds of N. W. Sanitary Fair, held 

in Chicago, Oct., 1863, * 75,100 27 

U. S. Sanitary Commission, expended in pur- 
chase of Potatoes and Onions foi- the army 

in Tennessee and Georgia, 47,168 58 

U. S. Sanitary Commission, expended in salaries 

of Agents and Nurses, 3,526 55 

Amount received from "Hospital Fund" of sun- 
dry Hospitals, and expended in yjurchase of sup- 
plies, as requested by Surgeons in charge,. . . . 8,654 69 
Amount specially contributed for the relief of 

Union Refugees, 1 ,829 52 

Amount contributed by friends in Huntsville, 
_ Ala., for relief of prisoners at Camp Duuglas, 

and paid to officer in command, 108 00 

Soldiers' Home, Cairo, 111., amomit received for 

" savings," up to Dec. 1, 1864, 6,398 50 

Total Cash Keceipts, 307,390 55 

* This does not include Real Estate and Af,'HCultural Irnplementg still on hand, and Hospital 
Supplies received duiiug the Fair. The latter are included in the estimate previously made 
of " Supplies Received," and, with the former, swell the nett proceeds to over .$83,000. 



45 



7. ACCOUNT OF J] XPEN D ITU RES . 

The tot.'il amount of cash disburseiaeiits, us above stated, 
— 8287,4V9.7t), durinc; three years and two months, was 
expended as follows : 

Supplies, Hospital and Sanitary, including Articles 
of Diet, Medical Supplies, Clothing, Bedding, 
Hospital Furniture, Ale and Liquors, pm-chased 
and forwarded to the Hospitals, Army, Battle- 
fields, and Soldiers' Homes at Chicago, Cairo, 
Columbus, Paducah and Memphis $230,645 02 

Material for Hospital C-irarments made 

at Sewing Rooms $9,162 20 

Cost of making up into Shirts, 

Drawers, Socks, and Eye-Shades. 758 79 9,920 99 

Appropriated to Soldiers' Home, Chi- 
cago 6,000 00 

Appropriated to Soldiers' Home, Du- 
buque 1,000 00 7,000 00 

Salaries of Agents and Nurses in the 

Field and Post Hospitals, and then- Traveling 

Expenses 8,965 79 

Clerk Hire, at Rooms of the Commission 6,178 52 

Labor for handling, nnpacking, distribnting, mark- 
ing, and packing goods at Rooms ; loading cars 
at R. R. Stations, cleaning, painting, and fitting 
up office, and warehouse at Chicago, and labor 
at Soldiers' Home, Cairo 4,562 27 

Drayage, Express and Freiglit, inclnding drayage 
on goods to and from R. R. Stations, Express 
Company's charges on money and goods, and 
Freight charges 6,383 9] 

Stationery, including Paper, Envelopes, Wrap- 
pers, Pens, Ink, and Blank Books 180 29 

Amount carried forward, $273,836 79 



46 

Amount brought forward, $2'73,S86 79 

Printing Circulars, advising of supplies needed, 
&c., Keports of Army Inspection, Keports of 
Receipts, Shipments, and Disbursements, Di- 
rection Cards, Letter and Envelope Headings, 
Labels, Blank Receipts, and Advertisements. . 4,290 21 

Postage on letters and docmnents 1,229 15 

Telegraphing 203 98 

Warehouse and Office Furniture and Fixtures, 
including Signs, Locks and Keys, Chisel, Water- 
ing Pot, Pails, Maps, Chairs, Oil Cloth, Desks, 
Saws, Hatchets, Skids, Matches, and Carpenter 

Avork 205 91 

Rent of Office, Warehouse and Sewing Room . . 1,306 64 

Fuel 285 72 

Sewing Room Expenses, — Brushes, Tables, Shears 
and Scissors, Pails, Brooms, Pitchers, Dust- 
pan, Wash-bowl, Chairs, Stationery, iSTeedles, 
Oil, Soap, Screw-driver, Carpenter work, and 

Repairing Sev/ing Machine 14151 

Amount advanced for proposed " ISTorth-Western 

Sanitary Commission and Soldiers' Home Fair" 505 3:5 

Agents and Niu-ses of the U. S. Sanitary Com- 
mission, paid with funds received from U. S. 

Sanitary Commission for this purpose 3,526 55 

Union Refugees, at Cairo, being amount specially 

contributed for this object 1,840 00 

Camp Douglas, amount specially contributed by 
friends in Hunts ville, Ala., for wants of prison- 
ers, and paid over to Commandant of Camp- 
Douglas, 108 00 

Total Expenditures 287,479 76 



S.— SEWING ROOMS. 



The Sewing-Rooms were fitted up by the Commission in 
June, 1864. 

During the six months from June 29th to December 31st, 



47 

] 864, there were made up the following articles of Hospital- 
Clothing : 

3,077 Pairs of Drawers. 

1,786 Shirts, 

62 Pairs of Socks, 
216 Handkerchiefs, 
132 Eye Shades. 



1). SUMMARY OF TOTAL EXPENSES. 

Of the above sum of total expenditures, viz., 287,479.70, the 
following items are charged to " Expense Account," for carry- 
ing on the work of the Commission, in its .various departments, 
viz : — 

Salaries of Agents and Nurses, $8,965 79 

Less amount paid for actual care 
and nursing of sick and woimded, 1,779 84 

^7,185 95 

Clerk-Hire, 6,178 52 

Labor, 4,562 27 

Drayage, Express and Freight, 6,383 91 

Stationery, 180 29 

Printing, 4,290 21 

Postage, 1,229 15 

Telegraphing, 203 93 

Warehouse and Office, — sundries stated above,. 205 91 

Rent, ^ 1,306 64 

Fuel, 285 72 

Sewing-Room Expenses, as above, 141 51 

Total " Expense Account," $32,154 01 

Apply this sum — 132, 154.01, to the total value of the supplies 
distributed, as above stated, viz., $964,059.71, and it will be 
found that the actual cost of receiving and distributing the sup- 
plies, during the three years and two months the Commission 
has been in operation, has been three and one-third (3^) 
per centimi of the value of the supplies distributed. 

E. W. Blatchfokd, 

Treasurer N. W. Sanitary Commission. 



LIBRfiRY OF CONGRESS 



013 744 438 



\, 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



013 744 438 



